The following is an important op-ed by David Brooks, from the NYT of March 19, 2010. He has posited that over the last forty years American society has become an indigestible stew from the economic forces from the right and from the cultural freedom forces from the left that have caused us to be a society with tremendous social problems on historic time scales. I always find Brooks’ mentality a painfully odd juxtaposition of liberal and conservative elements, but nonetheless, he does have penetratingly clear systemic social intuitions that are worth scratching your head over. In the piece that follows he is at his best form in his stock-in-trade. I think he has good grist for the mill for Greens, so I heartily recommend that folks read this and post replies. We are still working out what we mean by our decentralism key value. Here’s hoping Brooks can provide food for thought in this domain.
Continue reading The Broken SocietyTonight I sat down and watched the second half of the Northern Iowa-Kansas upset. Thrilling stuff. Reminded me again why I watch the tournament each year. What else could reduce a grown man to screaming and convulsing over two college teams that aren’t even Big East? Nothing like it.
Seven years ago I was watching the tournament when I heard the news. After all the strutting and swaggering at the joke that is the UN; after the Colin Powells and Dominique de Villepins had exited stage left; after our impotent howls in the press and in the streets, and after all the lies, the sewer-stream of filthy goddamned lies from the throne, the endless droning repetition of lies by CNN and The New York Times, after more bullshit than I’ve ever seen in my life–there was the President, live from the Oval Office, telling me that he’d just bombed Baghdad. I don’t remember what game I was watching. I know that I turned it off and walked outside, smoked a cigarette or two, and thought: we failed.
Continue reading “Gimme an `F’,” said Country Joe–“I want ya to start singin’!”I can only dream of the day when Radiohead’s Thom Yorke comes to Massachusetts for a Jill Stein / Green-Rainbow Party benefit concert, and breaks out three new songs for the occasion. I have a fond memory of Yorke during the 2000 presidential elections, holding up a “Let Ralph Debate” sign on the stage of Saturday Night Live at the end of the show when the whole cast mingles.
Well, part way to my dream, Yorke played a benefit concert last month for UK Green Party candidate Tony Juniper, Cambridge (be sure to also check out UK Green candidate Caroline Lucas who apparently has a better shot — in Brighton — at winning a seat in Parliament)
Check out Yorke’s stunning “The Daily Mail” and two more below the jump. If you want some background read this.
Continue reading A Green Party fundraiser to dream forMaine shows us the way, though with Clean Elections they’re playing with a different beast. I dare a single Massachusetts State Legislator who allowed Clean Elections to be destroyed without even going on the record to defend that move on Green Mass Group. I double dare you!
Maine Green Independent Party will run 18 candidates for state legislature in 2010
Posted March 18th, 2010 by Dave Schwab at Green Party Watch
AUGUSTA- On Monday, March 15th, the Green Independent Party of Maine turned in signatures to qualify 18 legislative candidates throughout the state, the second highest total in 12 years of holding official ballot status.
“We made legislative recruitment a top priority this year. With sweeping changes in electoral reform that came out of Augusta last year, we no longer need the governor’s race to keep party status. We turned our resources toward legislative seats, where we have better opportunity for success,” said Anna Trevorrow, Chair of the state Green Independent Party.
The party has nearly doubled its number of qualified candidates from 2008, and has expanded its geographic outreach. The Greens have qualified 15 candidates for State House and 3 for State Senate.
Continue reading Maine, Maine, show us the way!My name is Jim Henderson, and I have this week begun my independent campaign for Secretary of the Commonwealth. Even though I have had the good fortunate to cross paths with some of you over the years, I would like to more formally introduce myself to this community, seek your questions and comments, and hopefully earn your consideration and support.
I hope to bring a fresh, and truly independent perspective to this campaign. I am not a career politician, nor do I seek to be one. I am an attorney with my own practice based in Stow, focusing primarily on business and transactional law, as well as tax and estate planning. At the risk of patting myself on the back, my clients and friends consider fairness to all and integrity to be a couple of my noteworthy characteristics.
By why run for Secretary of the Commonwealth? First, it’s a job I’d actually like to do. Second, well, that’s what follows…
The Secretary is the chief information officer of Massachusetts. I believe it is the Secretary’s job to make sure the people of Massachusetts have easy access to public information, so they can conduct business, evaluate candidates for office, learn who’s lobbying and influencing legislation. The Secretary also oversees elections throughout the Commonwealth, and is in the best position to promote greater access to the ballot box and to the electoral process in general. In short, the Secretary can help us all participate in our democracy.
Yet, we are in a time when more and more people feel frustrated with their government. Too often we feel out of touch with our representatives and cannot understand why they are not more responsive to the concerns and challenges of the people. And too often when election time comes, voters encounter hurdles to casting their ballot, or find themselves with few options to make any changes.
And after almost two decades in office, the current Secretary is too entrenched and unresponsive to deal with these problems. A fresh perspective, and a willingness to try new ideas and approaches, is what the Commonwealth needs today. I am the person who will bring that perspective and willingness to Beacon Hill.
Continue reading An Introduction: Jim Henderson for Secretary of the CommonwealthI thought it important to share this heartening news story from the 3/16/10 issue of Northampton's Hampshire Gazette by staff writer Ben Storrow. It concerns our state government working the way it should – taking its lead from the upwelling of the grassroots sense of how we should be farming and living in the new era we are entering with peak oil-induced growing energy costs and with growing environmental and economic damage from global warming. In very truth we now are experiencing a Daniel Shays rebellion out here in the western part of Massachusetts, but this time a practical, slow, and steady rebellion, a rebellion away from corporate food to real food. With this, corporate politics is sure to give way to real politics – as sure as night gives way to day.
What makes this story so uplifting for me is that in the same story we have Sen. Stan Rosenberg D-Amherst backing a project that is supported by a conventional, conservative farmer in Hadley, who in turn quotes Bill McKibben's 1,400 miles from farm to plate mantra without even knowing it. These ideas are certainly starting to percolate. The next phase is to give these ideas a name, and have that name on everyone's lips: relocalization.
Continue reading Legislators aim to boost local food in schools
I’ve been using my recycled solar cloches for years to start my garden early. This year, here in Planting Zone 6A, I started planting a few days ago with tomatoes and basil in one solar cloche, zucchini in another, roquette and broccoli in a simple single cloche, and spinach in the space between them. It was a great early Spring day as I planted the seeds and I was happy to spend an hour in the garden. I’ll be happier when I see the seeds become seedlings and happier still, a couple of months down the road, when I get to taste my fresh vegetables.
Next week, I plan to plant more spinach and sugarsnap peas.
In the background of two of the pictures, you can see my Dirty F*ck*ng Solar Hippie Backpack which I have been using for about five years.
Continue reading Solar Garden Plantings
The historical roots of Amherst go back to the 17th century with the founding of Hadley. It would seem odd, therefore, to ask: “Does Amherst exist?” Quite clearly it does. Wind the tape of history back to the beginning, however, to discover that Amherst did not have to come into being as a town. The district of Amherst, for example, split apart from Hadley as a result of a petition to the General Court in Boston, which did not necessarily have to assent. Both Amherst and Hadley were the products of political deals that did not have to occur. Why, then, should any particular town exist? Is the existence of a Town necessary for the sustainable future of its people? These questions must now be contemplated.
(Addtional information added on July 20, 2010 – please see the comments below.)
Speaking as a Green-Rainbow candidate for the Fourth Berkshire District State Representative seat, I am opposed to the Wind Energy Siting Reform Act as it was amended and passed by the Massachusetts Senate on February 4. The bill opens the door to the Commonwealth overruling the decisions of local officials, even in communities that have a green vision for energy and have demonstrated progress and results.
While there is a need to reform the permitting process for wind and other alternative sources of energy, the first decisions on how a community will reduce its carbon footprint and promote energy alternatives must come from the local community itself. There are many towns in the 4th Berkshire District working diligently and establishing solid programs with town departments, residents, and local businesses to support alternative energy and to reduce the community’s carbon footprint.
The Commonwealth should be charged with setting overall “green energy” goals and with providing a framework for communities to develop their own ways of meeting the goals. Those communities that take the initiative to meet their goal should be given control over how this is done. I will be eager to work with all communities in the 4th Berkshire District to support each community’s efforts to develop alternative energy and conservation programs that work for the community and that contribute to overall Commonwealth goals.
If a community fails to act pro-actively on its own initiative, the door should be open for the Commonwealth to expedite local permitting of projects that will promote alternative energy, and thus play a larger more active role in how green energy goals are met in that particular community.
However, as long as a community has documented a commitment to green energy and is demonstrating real progress and results towards the goals, the community should be allowed to follow current law in the issuance of permits to wind energy developers.
Continue reading Wind Energy Siting Reform ActOn February 26th, Suffolk University released their latest polling data [PDF] regarding the race for governor. This was the first poll to be conducted after Green-Rainbow candidate Jill Stein's announcement that she would be throwing her hat into the race for governor. Among the 500 voters they surveyed, 3% indicated that they would vote for Stein if the elections were held on the day they did their polling. The other candidates had higher figures, but no one breached the 50% mark.
Even more interesting, though, was the next question:
If it was apparent that your first choice could not win the election, which candidate (or party) would be your second choice?
Continue reading Instant Runoff Voting still worth the effort